One I haven't seen mentioned yet (though I could have missed it) is Scott Westerfeld's Succession series. It's only two volumes (The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds). It was originally intended as one large book but the publisher decided to split it due to its size.

The main female character is easily as important as the main male, and there are some other powerful female characters as well.

The first volume is available in both epub and kindle, but the second one, for some reason, is not (as far as I can tell) but the paperback is still in print.

I started reading pulp a few years ago, and got hold of some of the Lensman and Skylark novels. While at first I didn't mind them, in some ways they really haven't aged well. You certainly won't find any strong female characters in them. It's very much a product of its time.

The Lensman books hold up far better for me than the Skylark series. Skylark's hero, Richard Seaton, is a little too squeaky clean, and a guy who can destroy an entire sentient alien race (even if they are loathsome Chlorine breathers who want to destroy humanity) without batting an eye or breaking a sweat is a bit much to take.
______Dennis

Both Lin Carter's Jandar of Callisto and Green Star series are more in the line of Edgar Rice Burroughs books. More science fiction fantasy than space opera.

I agree in the main that they are science fiction fantasy but to my mind they do contain some space opera elements. I was lucky enough to hear Carter speak at a convention many years ago and he emphatically listed these as a homage to both space opera and ERB.

But then there's the bit about how females can't operate the Lens cos, well, they are weak females. This is not implied, it was actually said more than once.

Re-read them. There actually is a female Lensman toward the end. (More then one, when you count the Children of the Lens.) But lack of a Lens for females has nothing to do with weakness, and is more to do with lack of need.

If you want to look at it that way, you can make a case that males are the weak ones, because they require the artificial aids to do things the females accomplish naturally. (Consider Jill Sams playing Herkimer Herkimer the 3rd in _First Lensman_.)
______Dennis

I don't think that anyone has mentioned one of the greatest Space Opera sequences of the golden age: namely the "Hub" sequence of James H. Schmitz. It comprises:Trigger and FriendsTNT: Telzey & TriggerTelzey Amberdon
Agent of Vega
You won't find weak women in these books!
He also wrote the fab Witches of Karres--which is not fantasy. Despite the title it is solid Space Opera!

Another great SO series I enjoyed is The Chanur series by C J Cherryh.

I have these in hard copy but they may well be available in e-book format.

I don't think that anyone has mentioned one of the greatest Space Opera sequences of the golden age: namely the "Hub" sequence of James H. Schmitz. It comprises:Trigger and FriendsTNT: Telzey & TriggerTelzey Amberdon
Agent of Vega
He also wrote the fab Witches of Karres.

All of the Schmitz works are available in ebook form from the Baen Free Library.

The "Federation of the Hub" series is classic work, and Telzey Amberdon is one of the best female protagonists in SF. (Trigger Argee is a close second.)

Note, however, that _Agent of Vega_ is not set in the Hub universe. It's a stand alone volume of linked stories in a different setting.
______Dennis